Bedlington, Northumberland

Description
Bedlington, a township, a parish, and a village in Northumberland. The township lies on the river Blyth, and on the Morpeth and Tynemouth railway, 5 miles SE of Morpeth. It includes an irregularly built village, chiefly of one spacious street about a mile long, commanding a fine seaward view ; has a station on the railway, and a post, money order, and telegraph office, and is a seat of petty sessions. Acreage, 8470, of which 671 are foreshore and water; population of the civil parish, 16,996; of the ecclesiastical, 9043. The monks of Durham at the Conquest, when fleeing to Lindisfarne with the remains of St Cuthbert, rested a night here. The parish includes also the townships of North Blyth. Cambois, Choppington with Sheepwash, Netherton, East and West Sleakburn, and Bedlington ; and prior to October, 1844, it formed part of the county of Durham. The manor belonged anciently to the Crown, and passed to the Bishops of Durham. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor. The inhabitants are employed chiefly in the coal trade. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Newcastle ; gross value, £548 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The vicarages of Cambois and Choppington are separate charges. There are Presbyterian, Baptist, Wesleyan, and Primitive Methodist chapels, also a Roman Catholic church, Salvation Army barracks, and a mechanics' institute, with library and reading-rooms, and public schools.